


Beware the Forest

by iCheat



Series: Steter Week 2017 [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Day 4, Human Peter Hale, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Naga, Naga Stiles, Steter Week, Steter Week 2017, hopefully will continue later, mostly - Freeform, supernatural creature
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 12:57:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12912381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iCheat/pseuds/iCheat
Summary: Peter left home with the goal of finding a treasure that would earn him his family's respect. When he entered the forest he didn't realise he could be changing the course of his life or that something in that forest might hold power over that choice.For day 4 of my belated Steter Week: supernatural creature.





	Beware the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> I actually really want to continue this at a later date when I'm more confident in my writing ability. Hope you enjoy!

Peter carefully prowled through the forest. He was tired and hungry but he wasn’t going to let that slow him down when he was finally so close. He had left home adamant that he would prove himself to his family, who favoured his sister so. He would find a great treasure and bring it home to ensure them all a life of leisure.

He would certainly appreciate some leisure right now.

The last town he’d been in had finally had the kind of stories he was looking for. A great monster lived in the forest, they said, guarding its nest. Peter was hardly the first man to go after the creature, and the town had tried to warn him away with stories of men never returning, or worse, returning scarred and confused, slowly dying with no memory of how it happened.

Peter was rightfully cautious, but he wasn’t going to turn from his goal so easily.

Of course he hadn’t expected to be in the forest for three days with no sign of either monster or treasure.

It was cold, animals were scarce and Peter wasn’t so sure changing his family’s attitude was worth suffering as he was.

“It’s cold tonight.” A voice said, making Peter’s head snap around in shock. A man stood just a couple steps from him. He was dressed in thick furs with his hands behind his back, watching Peter with golden eyes.

“Where did you come from?” Peter asked with a frown.  The man laughed before gesturing towards the darkness outside of the light from Peter’s fire.

“The trees hide a lot if you’re not looking.” He said easily, bringing his hands forward to reveal a couple of large hares. “I’m here to hunt. I’ll share my meat if you share you’re fire.”

Peter usually would not accept food from a strange man in a dark forest but, God, he was hungry.

“Sounds fair.” He said carefully. The other man just grinned at him, easily moving to sit beside the fire. Peter watched as the stranger pulled a knife and went about skinning the animals. He was precise and practiced, carefully keeping track of every part.

“It’s important not to let anything go to waste.” The man said, apparently noticing Peter’s scrutiny. “Nature gives us what we need, but she only has so much to give. We have to appreciate all of it.”

“Makes sense.” Peter said agreeably. He knew well enough by this point how important it was to savour what you had. He’d never thought of his family as wasteful until he was traveling on his own and had to use everything he could to survive. You didn’t waste a resource. If it was broken you fixed it, if it was food you ate it. No exceptions.

“I’m glad you agree. I am Stiles by the way.”

“Peter. I’m surprised you managed to find these. The wildlife here is quite scarce.”

“They are preparing for the oncoming winter. Fortunately I am quite the experienced hunter, if I may say. They’re easy enough to track if you know what to look for.”

“I suppose that is quite fortunate.” Peter said with a resigned sigh. “I certainly wasn’t having any luck.”

“It’s a bit risky coming so deep into the forest if you don’t have experience winter hunting.” Stiles said, looking at him with clear curiosity.

“I’ve never had a problem with hunting before. I suppose it was somewhat conceited to believe I could just go where I please and manage as I had been.” Peter said with a slight scowl. He’d been trying not to think about it. This trip, for all it was originally to gain his family’s respect, had left him very disillusioned with his family’s way of life.

They were pampered. A thought he’d never had before. His village was large enough and fair enough from any real danger that they’d never had to worry about fight or struggling for food. The townsfolk all worked together and their farms supported them well enough. It was quite a good life but he was only now realising how different it was to the rest of the world. Plenty of town supported and helped one another, but they were wary of dangers and problems Peter had never considered when he lived at home.

Realistically he was probably lucky he’d survived this long

“Well your alive, and with a roaring fire.” Stiles said, giving Peter an encouraging smile as he set the meat to cook. “You could be doing much worse.”

“I suppose. It’s just seeming rather pointless.”

“What was the point?”

“Did you know there was supposed to be a monster in this forest?”

“There are a lot of things in this forest. Surely you noticed that none of the towns are within a day from the tree line.”

“I did.”

“A great many things can live among the trees or in the water the flows through them. I have no doubt at least one of them could be called a monster.”

“You don’t seem concerned.”

“You don’t seem particularly concerned either.” Stiles said with a grin. “If you spend all your time being scared of what you don’t know, you’re never going to find anything new.”

“I guess.”

Stiles just continued to smile before he returned his focus to the cooking meat. He seemed perfectly relaxed, not even reacting to the occasional noise in the darkness. Eventually the meat was cooked and they both started tearing off to eat. Peter, who had been eating a lot of jerky recently, very nearly moaned at the taste of the fresh meat.

It was bland but at least it was fresh.

Once the meat was eaten and they’d put all the bones aside Stiles lay beside the fire and looked up at the sky. Peter copied him. He debated suggesting watches but he’d managed sleeping on his own this long and Stiles was clearly able to look after himself. Peter had become quite a light sleeper anyway.

It would be fine.

* * *

Peter woke up to a strange noise. Like something crying out to him in an almost musical way. The fire had died down the embers and Stiles was still sound asleep. He’d curled onto himself and his breathe seemed to hiss in and out in an odd way. It wasn’t the noise Peter had heard though.

Looking around Peter spotted a small, glowing light, just a little ways away. It was definitely still within seeing distance from the fire so, curious, Peter got up to look at it. It faded as he got close but another appear behind it. Only a little further.

Something nagged at Peter as he followed the little floating lights but he could hardly focus on it. The musical cry was getting closer. It was only a little ways away. It gone a little further when another noise suddenly stopped him.

It was an almost imperceptible rustling but Peter was familiar with the noise of a snake. They were one of the few dangers that existed back home. He’d definitely heard something. Big, most likely, the smaller the snake the less noise they tended to make. Not that they made much noise to start off with.

They rarely approached a fire though.

Where was the fire?

Confused Peter looked around him, trying to spot the fire and Stiles. He’d only gone a little way he should still be able to see them.

The cry drew his attention again and Peter turned to see another light. It was only just out of reach. Just a couple steps.

Something lunged at him as he took a step. For a moment his mind conjured an image of long fangs but then arms were warping around him and he was being tackled to the floor. Peter struggled for a moment before he recognised Stiles as the person pinning him down. More importantly he didn’t seem interested in attacking Peter, just holding him in place.

“What are you doing?” Peter said in a hard voice, Stiles stared at him for a moment before rolling off him with a huff.

“You were following will-o-wisps. I thought you probably wouldn’t want to die.”

“What?” Peter looked over to where Stiles pointed. There was no floating light now, or musical cry, but there was a stretch of marsh. It blended in with the rest of the solid forest floor, making it even more dangerous. Peter frowned. Forests didn’t just become marshes.

“I told you.” Stiles said as he stood and offered Peter his hand. “There are a lot of things living in this forest. It’s riddle with lakes, the occasional marsh, the river, and creatures of all natures.”

“I thought will-o-wisps were passive.” Peter said, and fell into step with Stiles as he led them away from the marsh. “They lead lost travellers to their death but these… They were calling to me.”

“The forest makes them stronger.” Stiles said with a shrug. “Magic here is amplified. That’s why people won’t live too close, even if the creatures who live here don’t leave. The forest changes people. It can awaken things in them.”

“Did it do that to you?” Peter asked bemusedly. Magic had never been a prominent part of his life but surely someone would have mentioned something like that. Stiles just shrugged again, not looking at him.

“I wouldn’t really know. I’ve spent my whole life with the forest.”

“How could you have spent your whole life in the forest? Don’t you have a town? A family?”

“My parents passed long ago. I suppose I had a town. Whole life might be an exaggeration, I’ve lived here a long time.”

“So, what? You track travellers and protect them?” Peter said. That didn’t make sense. People died here. Even those that managed to get back out eventually died. Stiles stopped and turned to actually look at Peter, a frown on his face.

“No. I don’t usually intervene. People know the risks of coming in here.”

“Then why did you help me?”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment. He eyes flickered to look behind Peter for just a moment before focusing on him again.

“I don’t know.” He said blankly, turning away. “The fire’s this way.”

Peter frowned and looked over his shoulder. There was nothing there. Peter made an irritated noise as he started after Stiles again. The noise had a slightly rumbly tone that almost gave him pause but then the fire was in front of and Stiles was curled up beside it, clearly aiming to go back to sleep.

Well, he clearly thought it was fine to go back to sleep.

Peter lay down and frowned up at the sky. The new moon had just passed before he entered the forest, his goal being to leave before there was another night without moonlight. Stiles had saved his life but why was he so shifty about it? Maybe it was the forest. Stiles said it changed people. If that was the case, and Stiles had been here for years, what would it have done to him?

Turning to look at his companion Peter saw Stiles was apparently asleep again. Curled up and taking those little hissing breathes. How long had Stiles been alone here?

There wasn’t much he could do about it but Peter as he closed his eyes Peter swore to himself that he wouldn’t leave the campfire again before dawn unless Stiles was with him.

* * *

Stiles opened his eyes once he could scent that Peter was asleep. He didn’t know what had drawn him to this man when so many people had been in the forest and Stiles had never looked at them twice.

When he’d seen Peter though he’d seen something else. He’d been honest when he said the forest changed people but it was hardly random. The forest amplified the magic within a person’s spirit. It could strengthen magical creatures, awaken lost bloodlines and increase the power of a magic practitioner.

Stiles had been living in the forest for a very long time, having an extended lifespan. He’d seen people actually come in searching power. Sometimes he let them leave, often the forest killed them and sometimes he went after them before they could use their new power to bring destruction to the world outside the forest.

Other times still the power tainted them. Stiles had watched more than one person slowly deteriorate as they lost control of their own power.

Peter though. Peter had been in the forest three days. He’d only had minor encounters during that time, usually pulling himself out any trace or thrall that snuck up on him. He’d almost done it tonight as well, when he’d heard Stiles coming.

He had very good hearing. Had he had that before he came here?

There was really no way for Stiles to know. He did know that if Peter stayed to long he wouldn’t leave the same. Based on the way his scent had changed so far Stiles suspected the full moon would be the point of no return.

It wasn’t a long time.

Stiles rubbed at his legs. They didn’t hurt but if he stayed in this form too long they started to itch with the need to return to the natural state. Frankly Stiles preferred his tail. Legs were all well and good but a naga was far more suited to the forest than a human.

He could leave Peter tomorrow, return to his nest and wait to see what happened. He could, but…

He was lonely. There were many creatures living in the forest and he could even sort of communicate with most of them but it wasn’t like having a real conversation. Not like he could have with Peter. If the full moon came Peter wouldn’t be just human anymore. Something in him was different and if it awoke he may very well be more suited to the forest than a town.

The noise he’d made earlier when he’d been irritated at Stiles. When the slight scent of predator became the strong, familiar scent of wolf. That had been a growl. No question about it.

Peter didn’t realise. The magic the forest was so thick but Peter barely seemed to notice it. He’d brought a different scent with him, too. Not just the predator thing but a layer of magic, thin and worn.

Where ever Peter was from he, or maybe the place itself, was protected by magic. Old magic, for it too last on him this far from home.

There were a lot of questions to ask about Peter.

Unfortunately the main one was still what to do with him.

He was likely here to hunt something, to hunt _Stiles_ , but the way the forest was changing him he could belong here. If Stiles let him stay in the forest until the full moon he could have company. He could have someone to talk to.

All he had to do was let him stay.

The other option was to make him leave. Force him out of the forest before he became something other than human. He could do what he wanted someone else, return to his family and live out his human life.

And Stiles would be alone.

It was a hard decision. He knew what was right. He knew what his father would have done, his brave and loyal mostly human father. He would tell Stiles to make him leave.

It was only right.

Only his father was dead and Stiles had never managed to maintain the same morality his mother had so admired in his father.

Stiles wanted to make him stay.

He looked away from Peter, down at his legs and wondered. What would Peter do if he woke up to find Stiles lower half returned to its natural snake form?

Probably try to kill him but what if Peter wasn’t human either?

Stiles curled up again, wishing he could wrap his tail around himself. He didn’t know what to do.

At least he had some time to decide.

At least for a few more days he could have company without the guilt.


End file.
